Since they are subscription based and not ad based, their incentives are inherently aligned with customer preferences. This doesn't mean that they are immune from getting worse, or just becoming complacent, but it does at least make it less likely. Ad-supported companies succumbing to enshittification is virtually guaranteed thanks to the misalignment of basic incentives between the company and users (note: not customers).

Exactly this. There's no guarantee Kagi will never get worse, but it will become worse in a different way than Google has since Kagi isn't ad supported.

"If the service is free, you are the product."